There is no surprise at all here. This has been talked about for a long time now...

As executives of Vulcan Inc. discussed the pros and cons of firing Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard last summer, the discussion found its way to this conclusion: Pritchard had proven to be a solid senior-level scout, but largely incapable of running the organization.

Owner Paul Allen and the Vulcan executives no longer trusted him to put the franchise before his own ambitions

Inside and outside the organization, Pritchard harped on how much more Portland coach Nate McMillan made than him. He complained to friends, rivals and relative acquaintances, and that played an immense part in the gulf that exists between the front office and coach.

When negotiations became contentious with star Brandon Roy(notes), Pritchard didn’t stand firm with the limits of ownership’s offer. What’s more, Pritchard tried to cozy up to Roy by selling the notion that it was the two of them together trying to get the contracts they deserved from owner Paul Allen. For the unparalleled resources Allen has provided Pritchard to remake the roster – millions in dollars to purchase draft picks, packaging them in trades or stockpiling prospects overseas – Vulcan was beyond irate that Pritchard still couldn’t present a united front when Allen decided to make a financial stand.

It reeked of Pritchard’s desperation and immaturity, and eventually inspired team president Larry Miller to usurp Pritchard in the talks for Roy’s eventual five-year, $82 million deal. Pritchard would go around the NBA, and surprise peers with questions that included, “How much do you make?” before launching into diatribes about how he couldn’t understand why he was so poorly compensated in Portland, especially in comparison to McMillan

Allen and Vulcan ultimately decided to strip some power and autonomy from Pritchard, but decided to keep trotting him out to the things he most loved: news conferences and public appearances.

“They left him the public face, but essentially he was neutered,” a league source with direct knowledge of the talks said.

Privately, Vulcan executives wish they had gone further and fired him, sources say

“The transition away from this regime has already started,” one source with knowledge of ownership’s plans said.

“Kevin was in a constant battle to position himself to get credit away from Nate for whatever success they were eventually going to have there,” one NBA executive friendly with both said. “Nate knows enough not to flap his gums and pound his chest – especially when your team hasn’t even won a playoff series yet. He’s secure in himself, in a way that Pritchard never knew how to be.

“If Kevin just kept his mouth shut, cut out all the arrogance and insecurity, I think he probably would’ve had his extension a long time ago.”

colangleo is a pretty smart guy he's just stuck using half potential because that's all he has avilable to use by mlse.

when mlse says do your worst they really mean do your worst

I don't doubt BC is a smart guy, and he certainly has his own set of strengths as GM (unafraid to make moves, respect in the league, etc.), but when it comes to player evaluation or team vision, at least, I think Pritchard, Presti and Buford are all ahead of him. I definitely do not believe MLSE handicapped him though, as you suggest. He made moves; some worked out (Amir Johnson, Sonny Weems), and some did not (Jason Kapono, Jermaine O'Neal). Simple as that.

BC's incompetence has been overrated. Look at Cleveland getting Shaq to combat Howard and getting Jamison to keep LBJ. That handicapped their team much the same way Jermaine O'Neal and then Turkoglu have done to us, and LBJ looks to be leaving his HOME state for it. The Knicks have been preparing for this summer for the last few years, and now it looks like they're being outdone by both Miami and Chicago. Their fans will have suffered for nothing.

Certainly though, if we were to go after Pritchard as GM, we'd be opening another can of worms. I wouldn't mind Pritchard being a scout, but if his bad reputation is earned, then I do not want him near our GM position at all.

Why would we only narrow our vision to that? That's a scout. So he's a top four scout. I could sign off on that but I'm sorry, he's not a top five GM. He obviously isn't a leader. The article I posted on the prior page proves that.

Why would we only narrow our vision to that? That's a scout. So he's a top four scout. I could sign off on that but I'm sorry, he's not a top five GM. He obviously isn't a leader. The article I posted on the prior page proves that.